What Was The Appearance Of Castle Interior Design?

Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn explore medieval castle interior design and decoration, focusing on the Great Hall and other rooms within the castle. Medieval castles were not bare stone inside like modern ruins, but instead had walls plastered and decorated with paint, while floors were tiled. The layout of medieval castles was varied, with each design largely influenced by local landscape, skills, resources, and purpose.

The four basic architectural styles – pre-Romanesque (motte-and-bailey), Romanesque (Norman castles), and Gothic – were the basis for castles built during the Medieval era. Both interior and exterior stonework were often whitewashed, and interiors were also plastered, paneled, or ornamented with paintings or other materials. Medieval rooms were dark, especially in winter, and were covered with wooden panels and parchment before the invention of window panes.

The interiors of medieval castles were spartan around the X-XII century, usually structured with cellars where provisions were kept. Medieval rooms were dark, especially in winter, and were often adorned with bespoke furnishings and unique materials from around the globe. The lord and lady’s chamber was often the most luxurious, featuring a large four-poster bed draped in rich fabrics like velvet and silk.

Many medieval castles shared similar features such as defensive barbicans and deep moats, a kitchen and a great hall, and a Keep (or donjon) at their heart.

What did the interior of castles look like?

The great hall in medieval castles was a central space used for eating, sleeping, entertaining, and holding court. It typically had high ceilings and large fireplaces, with stone or dirt floors. Lower levels housed food, beverages, and gold storage, while top levels occupied defense and prisoner storage. Dungeons were kept in the upper parts of the keep, making escape more difficult. Religion was crucial in the Middle Ages, with chapels and priests in most castles.

Horses were essential in medieval life, as they were used for transportation and transportation, and their garages or stables were usually located in the bailey. The castles also had chapels and priests in-residence or visiting.

Were castles dark inside?

Castles were often depicted as dark and cold, but they actually had large open hearths and wall fireplaces to provide heat and light. Tapestries insulated rooms against cold. Private rooms had curtains and fireplaces, and when no fireplace was available, rooms were heated with moveable fire stands. Castles had lamp rests in the walls for placing candles or lamps, and higher up in the social hierarchy had clean-burning candles that smelled more like beeswax than animal fat. These features contributed to the warmth and comfort of the castle.

What was life like inside a castle?

Medieval castles were central to medieval society, built in England and Wales after 1066. They established a feudal system, with each castle securing the power of the local lord over his vassals. Castles were places of domestic activity, with busy kitchens, preparations for celebrations in the Great Hall, and religious worship in each castle’s chapel. Life in a medieval castle was filled with pomp, ceremony, and cold, smelly conditions.

What was the layout of old castles?

A medieval castle was a fortified structure with a moat, thick walls, towers, and a barbican, which provided protection for the inhabitants. Such structures typically encompassed a variety of functional spaces, including living and sleeping quarters, food storage and preparation areas, and courtyards that allowed for outdoor recreation. The principal characteristics of a medieval castle included curtain walls and towers, a gatehouse with a drawbridge and moat, and a ditch filled with water.

What is the style of castle architecture?

Gothic castles are architectural structures that were constructed between the 12th and 18th centuries. They are characterized by a distinct Gothic style, encompassing features such as elevated walls, vaulted ceilings, and expansive windows. The majority of these structures were erected prior to 1500, with a significant proportion of them being constructed before that period.

What were the 3 types of castles?

The Normans constructed three principal types of castles in England, including the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle. These structures were erected beginning in the 11th century.

Why did castles have thick walls?

During the Middle Ages, sieges were common, leading many cities to fortify their walls and castles to defend against attackers using siege engines. Medieval fortification refers to the development of fortification construction and use in Europe from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance. During this millennium, fortifications changed warfare and were modified to suit new tactics, weapons, and siege techniques. Towers of medieval castles were usually made of stone, wood, or a combination of both, with battlements and arrow loops.

Sieges were common during this time, and many cities utilized catapults to hurl stones and missiles at enemy siege engines and soldiers. The most commonly used catapult for defense was the trebuchet, a torsion-powered catapult that dominated the Middle Ages both offensively and defensively. However, it required a longer loading time than other siege engines, leading some cities to use catapults like the mangonel and onager instead. Engineers thickened walls, round out towers, and redesign fortifications to employ trebuchets for defense.

Ballistas were another type of defensive weapon, but they were not often used due to their missiles sometimes lacked the force to dismantle enemy siege engines and their immobility confined them to the top of a city’s towers. After the invention of cannons in the 12th century CE, many torsion-powered catapults became largely obsolete, and cannons became commonplace medieval siege engines by the 15th century. Although slow to load, cannons proved to be devastating weapons, leveling a city’s walls or destroying siege engines with only a single projectile.

How were castles structured?

The castle, as we know it today, was introduced into England in 1066 during the Norman invasion led by William the Conqueror. The Normans built castles to control their newly-won territory and pacify the Anglo-Saxon population. Early castles were mainly of motte and bailey type, with the motte being a large mound of earth with a wooden tower on top and the bailey being a large ditch and bank enclosure. These timber castles were cheap and quick to build, but they were vulnerable to fire attacks and eventually rotted.

King William ordered that castles be built in stone, and many of the original timber castles were replaced with stone castles. Over time, stone castles were built in different architectural styles as builders experimented with castle-building techniques.

Castles served as military fortifications, serving as a center for local government, administration, and justice. They were also used by powerful lords to display their wealth and power through lavish architectural styles and decoration. Most castles were granted by the king to his loyal lords and nobles along with large areas of land, in return for which the king expected his nobles to control and administer these lands on his behalf. The castle itself represented a group of people who contributed to its function, including constables, masons, blacksmiths, and servants.

Did peasants live inside castle walls?

It was customary to construct defensive castles in response to perceived threats. However, integrating farmers within these structures was not a viable option.

Did medieval castles smell?

Castles and manor houses often lacked moisture, so they used herbs and rushes to counteract this. Popular herbs included lavender, thyme, meadowsweet, marjoram, germander, hyssop, and the Sweet Flag stems and leaves, grown only in the Fenlands of Norfolk and Cambridge and low-lying European countries. King Stephen’s court used rushes and flowers to prevent knights from sitting on bare flags, while Thomas à Becket covered hall floors with May blossom and sweet scented rushes in summer.

Churches also benefitted from fragrant strewing, but churchmen often avoided personal perfuming, which could be seen as hypocritical given Roman worship was a multi-sensory experience. Eyes fed on icons, ears soothed by Latin liturgy, tongues tasted wine and wafer, and hands stroked the velvet or coarse wool of clothing before straying to touch the herbs and rushes spread about wooden pews.

Why were castle walls sloped?

Castle defenders used corner towers to provide a better view of enemy movements, while windows were rare and loopholes were used for archers. Walls were sometimes thickened to protect them from battering rams and sloped away to redirect objects. Castle defenders would sometimes hunker down to wait out attackers. They made sure to be self-sufficient during a siege by building wells, keeping livestock, salting foods, and stockpiling weapons. Castle garrisons also stockpiled weapons for reinforcements, providing more protection from the elements and food if rations held up.

Besieged castle dwellers often negotiated time frames for surrender with the enemy, such as telling an attacking army they would surrender if reinforcements did not appear by a specified date. This strategy saved lives on both sides and avoided the financial costs of a siege.